Roofing shingle



March 15, 1932. E IR. BLACK I 1,849,785

ROOFING SHING'LE Filed Jan. 15. 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l March 15, 1932. E. R. BLACK RooFING SHINGLE Filed Jan. 13. 1927 2 Sheets-Smet 2 Patented Mar. l5, 1932 @WARD ROSCOE BLACK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T BLACK SYSTEMS md., 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS ROOFING SEING-LE Application filed. January 13, 1927.. Serial No. 160,803.

My invention relates to roong shingles and a method of producing them. It is particularly applicable to shingles made from exible prepared rooiingmaterials.

g @ne of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved shingle made from the ordinary variety of exible prepared rooting material.

Another object is' to provide a shingle i@ which may be readily cut without waste from standard width strips of exible prepared roofing material.

Another object is to provide an improved shingle of the-locking type. v

Another object is to provide a shingle of the locking type in which the tendency to crack and tear at the locking or overlapping edges is reduced.

Another object is to provide a locking ao shingle without slots or slits.

Another object is to provide a shingle which maybe economically applied.

Another objectv is to provide a locking shingle wherein the locking elements also a serve as guides and gages for the proper laying of the saine.

Another object is to provide a shingle which, when appliedto ay roof, provides adequate protection with relatively little unan necessary overlap.

Another object is to provide shingles which, when laid on a roof, tend to deflect the water toward the center of and away from the edges of each longitudinal or up and down row.

Another object is to provide an improved type of shingle which lends itself to the production of a wide variety of designs when laid on a roof.

Another object is to provide shingles which may be laid upon a roo` with relatively uniform distribution of material overthe roof.

VAnother object is to provide an improved .methodv for producing shingles of thelocking ce type.

@ther objects and advantages will hereinafter appear.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings whereo in:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of one form of shingle embodying the features of my invention,

Fig. 2 illustrates the manner in w-lnich such shingles can be cut from a narrow strip of roofing material without rwaste,

Fig. 3 represents the excision of such shingles from standard double width roong strips, and

Fig. 4 shows the manner in which such shingles are applied.

A roofing shingle made in accordance with my invention has parallel straight top and bottom edges with irregularly incised lateral or side edges. The incisions on the two sides are similar, but opposed so that by inverting one 'shingle and titting its side edge against the side edge of another shingle which is not inverted, the two side edges will contact at all points.

In the production of these shingles therefore they can be excised from a standard width strip of prepared roong material, alternate shingles being inverted, without any waste whatever in the material of the strip.

An individual shingle includes a head portion and a shank portion each provided with laterally projecting tabs, the tabs on the shank resulting in a recess in said shank. These shank recesses correspondv in contour and dimensions with the tabs or projections on the head. The sides or edges of the head tabs and shank are parallel to each other.

When the shingles are laid in position on the roof the tabs on the shank of the shingles in each row or course underly and interlock with locking corners of contiguously placed shingles of the preceding row or course. Accordingly, in order that the shingles :may be laid so that thosein the same'row do not overlap but merely abut each other, the distance from the locking edge of a shingle to the center thereof should be substantially the same as the dista-nce from the inner margin of the recess in the shankto the line of the extreme outside edge of the tab on the head. rlhese dimensions being the saine, the tabs or projectionsl on the heads 4of shingles laid side by side will just abut but will not overlap. rlhese features will be more apparent lo@ gli) from a consideration of the detailed description. v

` Referring rst to Figs. 1 to 4, the shingle is provided with top and bottom edges 10 and 11 respectively, these edges being straight and parallel `to each other. When cut from a standard narrow strip of roong material, as shown in Fig. 2, the constitute the outside edge of the strip. T e side edges designated generally 12 and 13 are irregularly incised in the sense that the projections on any side are not of regular occurrence. They are regular, however, in the sense that they are of definite conguration and with respect to each other are regular, being similar in design but opposed in direction. This permits the shingles to be cut without waste, by inverting alternate shingles in the manner indicated in Figs. 2 and 3.

Each shingle is provided with a parallel sided shank 14 and a main body portion 15. The body portion may again be considered as constituting a head portion 15a and a connecting body portion 15b. llhe pertinence of this division of the shingle and the function of the diierent portions thereof will become inore apparent when reference is inade to the application of the shingles to a roof.

The shank portion 14 is provided with tabs 1'7 and 18 while the head portion is provided with tabs or extensions 21 and 22, the outer side parallel edges of these tabs 21a, and 22a constituting theoutermost edge of the shingle. On the connecting portion 15b of the main body portion angular projections 23. and 24 occur. When the shingles are laid upon a roof the tabs 17 and 18' of each shingle in the row or course being applied are adapted to abut the bottom edges of contiguous projections 23 and 24 of two adjacent shingles of vthe preceding row. When the shingle is bein applied the inner edges 12a and' 13a of t e shank act as guiding edges for the shank and abut edges 12b and 13?) jof the two interlocking shingles of the'next preceding row, the edges 12b and 13b therefore `con stituting guiding edges for the main body portion of the shingle. When the shingle is drawn upwardly into place the corners 23a` and 24a constituting shingle locking corners, are in firm contacting relationship with corners 17a and 18a'between the tabs on the shank and the portion of the shank of restricted width. Tlus the interlocking edges serve as guides and stops or gages for facilitating the proper positioning of the shingles 60. v'my shingle, a center line representing the on a roof. The locking corners of the shank tabs therefore are where the guiding edges 12a and 13a of the shank meet tabs 17 and 18.

In order further to explain the features of longitudinal axis ofthe shin le is shown in a vertical dotted line in Figi 1, running through the center of the shingle. .At the left o the figure is aldotted line parallel to the lon itudinal axis line and extending from e ge 21a representing the outermost edge of the shingle, that is, where the shingle is widest. Now, in order that shingles in the same row may be laid so as just to abut and not overlap (that is so that edges 21a and 22a of two shingles placed side by side just meet or abut each other, but do not overlap) The distance X from the locking corner 28a to the longitudinal axis or center line of thev to the longitudinal axis thereof is the saine j as the distance from the guiding edge on the shank to the outermost edge of the shingle.

-The tabs formed on the shank result in a recessed portion of such shank, the distance across the shank in the region of the recess being the narrowest Width of the shingle. The inner edges of the recess in the shingle shown in Fig. `1 constitute the guiding edges 12a and 13a and in order for the shingle to be cut Without waste it is necessary that these edges have the saine length as the edges 21a, and 22a respectively on the head. The intermediate portions .of the lateral incised edges mag be made to vary in any way desirable an the shingle still cut without waste, because these intermediate edges are complementary to each other. By keeping these main points in mind, shingles may be niade having a great variety of shapes and resultingf in different designs when laid upon a roo Fig. 4 shows the application of shingles 0f the type shown in Fig. 1 to a roof, and illustrates, in a general manner, the appearance of the completed roof. The shin les are laid from the bottom or eave ed e o the roof to the top or ridge thereof. A ter'the first row or course of shingles has been placed along the eave edge of the roof with the extension edges 21a and 22a abutting and thebottoms 11 lowermost,then the shingles ofthe next higher row are ca sed to partially overlap the first row with the tabs 17 and 18 of the shingles of the overlapping row extendin under projections 25 and 26 of the shingles o the first row and interlocking therewith at locking corners 23a and 24a. The resulting second or overlapping row of shingles, will then have their edges 21a and 22a closely abutting without overlapping and Willbe in `position to in turn become the underlying iio and locking row for the shingles constituting l the next or third row. This procedure is re-4 is completed *with 'shingles of the form shown v gles.

immediately discernible and therefore in no ietwat in Fig. l, the design of the roof is a succession of stag eredi Ts. The portion exposed in this design constitutes the shank portion of the shingle less the tabs and a portion of the main body of the shingle bounded by guide edges 12b and 13b, excluding the projections 23 and 24- and extending longitudinally above the locking corners 23a and 24a.

With the shingles formed and laid as just described, the edges 210, and 22a of adjacent shingles in the same row abut each other without overlapping below the central portion of the head of the next higher row while along thfir edges the overlapping may result in several additional thicknesses. Thus the ,shingles may sag somewhat along the centers and form in eiiect shallow longitudinal channels or gutters (Fig. 4f) down which the water may flow when escaping from the sloping roof and thereby tending to keep the wa ter away from the longitudinal overlapping edges. rllhis lessens the tendency of the water to seep through the longitudinal or up and down joints between the overlapping shin- The channel is so shallow that itis not way detracts from the pleasing design of the completed roof. It is, however, sufficiently deep for the accomplishment of its purpose. Having thus illustrated and described the nature and an embodiment of my invention, what l claim and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is as follows:

1. A shingle having a head with a straight upper edge, a parallel sided shank which is relatively narrow in comparison to the width of the head and has a straight lower edge, a body portion interconnecting the head and shank and of a width intermediate the head and shank, and laterally projecting parallel sidedtabs on the head and the outward end of the shank, the vertical length of the head tabs being the same as the vertical length of side, the side edges of the two tabs being parallel, a parallel sided shank relatively narrow in comparison to the width of the head and having a straight lower edge, a body portion intermediate the head and shank and interconnectin the same, said body portion having a lookin corner on each. side of the shingle, a tab projecting laterally from each side of the shank at the outer end thereof to engage the locking corners of un derlying shingles, the distance from the locking corner to the longitudinal axis ot the shingle being substantially the same as the distance from the inner edge of the shank to a linev coinciding with the outer edge of a head tab and the vertical length of the head tabs being equal to the vertical lengths of the shank exclusive of the vertical length ofthe shank tabs.

4. An interlock type shingle formed from a sheet of exible weatherproof material and comprising a head having a straight upper edge and a tab at each lateral side, the lateral edges of the two tabs being paralleha substantially parallel sided shank having a,

straight lower edge, an intermediate inter connecting body portion between the head and shank, said body portion having a locking corner on each side of the shingle and the distance from one such locking corner to the longitudinal axis of the shingle being substantially equal to the distance from a side of the shank to the line of the outer edge of the head tab on the same side of the shingle, and a tab projecting laterally from the end of each side of the shank to engage a locking corner of an underlying shingle, the vertical length of the shank exclusive of its tabs being equal to the vertical length of the head tabs.

In witness whereof, l hereunto subscribe my name this 11th day of Janna 1927.

EDWARD RUSCE LACK.

the shank exclusive of the vertical length of i its tabs.

2. A shingle having a substantially rectangular head with a tab projecting centrally from each side thereof, a substantially rectangular shank relatively narrow in comparison to the width of the head, a body portion interconnecting the head and shank and of a width intermediate the head and shank, said intermediate portion having locking corners in op osite sides, and a tab projecting laterally rom each side of the outer end of the shank to engage the interlocking corners o shingles of a preceding course, the length of the head tabs being equal to the length of the shank exclusive of the length of its tabs and being less than the distance between the locking corners and the lower llimits of the head portii. y

proof material comprising a head having a roong shingle of flexible weather-- 

